Welcome to the website of the Digital Media Law Project. The DMLP was a project of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society from 2007 to 2014. Due to popular demand the Berkman Klein Center is keeping the website online, but please note that the website and its contents are no longer being updated. Please check any information you find here for accuracy and completeness.

New York Wiretapping Law

New York's wiretapping law is a "one-party consent" law. New York makes it a crime to record to record or eavesdrop on an in-person or telephone conversation unless one party to the conversation consents.N.Y. Penal Law §§ 250.00, 250.05.
(link is to the entire code, you need to click on the Penal Code
section, then choose Article 250 and locate the specific provisions).
Thus, if you operate in New York, you may record a conversation or
phone call if you are a party to the conversation or you get permission
from one party to the conversation in advance. That said, if you intend
to record conversations involving people located in more than one
state, you should play it safe and get the consent of all parties.

Consult the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press's Can We Tape?: New York for more information on New York wiretapping law.

New York Law on Recording Court Hearings and Public Meetings

Court Hearings

New York state appellate courts permit recording subject to the
approval of the particular court. Only two television cameras and two
still cameras are allowed in the courtroom at any given time. New York
trial courts do not allow recording devices in courtrooms.

Federal appellate courts in the Second Circuit, which
encompasses New York, permit sound and video recordings of oral
arguments under certain circumstances. The Second Circuit does not
permit recording of criminal matters, but "any person or entity
regularly engaged in the gathering and dissemination of news" may
record oral arguments in civil cases if they notify the calendar clerk
no later than noon two days prior to the proceeding. The presiding
judges have the discretion to exclude the media from the courtroom, and
there are limitations on the number of cameras that will be allowed at
any time. Recording devices are not permitted in federal district
courts in New York.

New York courts have held that persons attending a public
meeting (i.e., a meeting of a governmental body required to be open to
the public by law) have a right to tape or video record the meeting in
an unobtrusive way. This does not mean that a governmental body holding
a meeting cannot impose restrictions on the use of recording devices,
but it may not ban such devices altogether.

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Disclaimer

Information in this guide is based on general principles of law and is intended for information purposes only; we make no claim as to the comprehensiveness or accuracy of the information. It is not offered for the purpose of providing individualized legal advice. Use of this guide does not create an attorney-client or any other relationship between the user and the Digital Media Law Project or the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

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